


Tell Laura I Love Her

by flawlessassholes



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-29 02:26:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3878659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flawlessassholes/pseuds/flawlessassholes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura and Clint were lovers, and he wanted to give her everything. Flowers, presents, and most of all, a wedding ring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

If she could just get home, she thought, and take off her bra and go to bed, then today wouldn’t be such a complete disaster. Work had been swamped with that flu going around, and then one of her patient’s fathers had screamed at her, and now she was starting to feel a little ill herself. She was pissed, she was tired, and in the Manhattan summer evening, everything smelled like urine. 

 She took a quick de-tour through the park, to get away from the smell partially, and to hopefully salvage her day. Nature always cheered her up. Being around it, being in it. She should have been a camp counselor. Not a nurse. Fuck nursing. 

 It was the sound of guitar strumming that stopped her in her tracks. 

 She turned her head and looked and the shaggy looking guy with the guitar, strumming quietly to himself, with a dog laying on his feet. “You—" 

 The guy looked up. 

 She cleared her throat. “You— you’re uh, you’re playing Tell Laura I Love Her. Ray Peterson. 1960.” 

 The guy blinked. Looked behind him. Looked back at her. “Uh…” He said. “Yeah. I guess I am.” There was a slight twang to the way he said his words, like he was from… the country, or at least listened to country music. 

 “That was my, uh, lullaby.” She said. “You know, when I was a baby.” She kept looking at him, until she forced herself to break her gaze. “I should go, sorry—,” she said, turning to leave. 

 “Wait—" The guy stood up, and the dog rolled over and made a miffed noise. “I’m Clint.” He said, offering his hand. 

 She shook it. “Laura. Like the song.” 

 “Like the song.” He said, looking at her. He looked down at the guitar, before looking up at her. “Hey, do you wanna go grab some coffee?” 

 Laura smiled. “I would, really, but I’ve had the longest day, and I really just want to get home.” 

 He— Clint— nodded. “I get that. Days can be long.” 

 “Yeah, they can.” She agreed. “Well, goodbye.” She turned and started walking. 

 “Wait!” He said, grabbing his guitar. “At least let me walk you home. It’s getting dark, and I know, I’m just some random guy in the park with the guitar and the dog, but it’s getting dark, and I just need— you know the song. Let me walk you home.” 

 She looked at him, and looked at his eyes. They looked like they were pleading with her, but they were guarded, too. Cautious. “Sure.” She said, slowly. “I don’t live too far from here. But it’s only because of the dog.” 

 Clint smiled. “Come on, Lucky.” He said to the dog, who obediently got up and followed.

 “Lucky’s a good name.” She said. 

 "Yeah, he’s lucky, so I named him Lucky.” Clint said, walking forward. 

 Laura looked down at the dog. “How does he give you luck?” 

 Clint smiled. “Well, usually when I’ve got him around, I get lucky.” 

 Laura laughed. “You get lucky?” 

 Clint looked at her, grinning. “Now, that’s harassment.” 

 “What?” She shook her head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” 

 “I’m not the one who insinuates sexual favors caused by a dog with some stranger as we’re leaving a park.” 

 

—

 

“I give you my number, and you don’t call me? Ruthless, Laura. Ruthless.” Clint’s voice came in over speaker phone a little distant, but still warm. 

 “I’m sorry!” She coughed. “It’s the flu. I got it at the hospital, and I’m just a mess.” 

 He tisked. “Didn’t you get the flu shot?” 

 Laura sneezed. “No.” It was a miserable no. 

 “Well, there you go. Why didn’t you get a flu shot?” 

 A sniffle. “I’m allergic.” 

 “You’re allergic to the flu shot?” Clint sounded disbelieving. 

 “Yes.” Laura replied miserably. 

 Clint sighed. “Alright. I’ll bring you by some soup after I get off.” 

 “Get off?” Laura smiled. 

 “Harassment! Again!” 

 

 And so there they were, in her nasty, flu ridden bed, in her nasty, snot filled sheets, sipping soup from some corner deli that actually made her feel a thousand times better, watching Grey’s Anatomy. 

 “Oh, but Derrick…” Clint repeated after the tv in a mocking tone. “I don’t get it. You work all day at a hospital, and then you come home and watch a tv show about a hospital?” 

 Laura slurped. “I work nights, too. And I like the show! It’s dramatic and exciting.” 

 Clint snorted. “Bah, humbug. Dramatic and exciting. Christ, I don’t go home after work and watch The Hurt Locker because I want warm, fuzzy feelings about my job.” 

 Laura looked at Clint. Clint looked at her, and then at the TV.

 “I googled you, you know.” Laura said. 

 “Creepy.” Clint replied. 

 “I didn’t get much, except something about the circus, and something about a purple heart.” Laura continued. “I mean, it’s not weird that you were in the army. I know people in the army.” 

 “I’m not in the army any more.” Clint said. “Besides, I’m here now. I work here now.” 

 “Did you have a bad experience? Overseas?” She asked. 

 “I mean. Yeah, I got injured in a bad way.” He said. “My job is worse now.” 

 “Worse?” Laura said. “Worse than war?” 

 Clint sighed. “I see a lot of death.” 

 Laura took his hand. “I do too, Clint.” 

 

 Hours later, in the dim light of the late night, Laura reached out to touch Clint’s back. They had spent the night talking, about work, and family, and life, and things you shouldn’t really talk about on your first date with a guy you met at a park. 

 And then, to Laura’s surprise, they didn’t have sex. Which, like, Laura wasn’t expecting, but it was still surprising. You don’t share that much with one person, and then go to bed with out so much as a good night’s kiss. 

 He placed his hand on hers. 

 They fell asleep. 

 

The next morning in the shower, Clint was singing Tell Laura I Love Her.

 

\--

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Professionals do professional things. Like fall out of buildings.

"Alright, Mrs. Carter, I'm gonna put this blood work in, and then I'll come back and check on you, okay? Okay." Laura smiled, and exited back to the nurses station. "Hey, Stacy," She said to the nurse behind the desk. "Here's room 208's blood work." 

Stacy groaned. "We're swamped today. I'm exhausted. I was up all night with with the babies." 

Laura shook her head. "It's your fault you and John had another so soon after the first. I told you that you should have waited at least a year before trying for another."

"Well, we didn't. So I'm gonna complain about how tired I am, and you're going to listen." Stacy snapped. "Here. There's a 29-year-old male in room 213. Multiple lacerations and a possible concussion. Said he fell out of a window."

"Christ." Laura winced. "The things that happen to people." 

Stacy tsked. "The things they do to themselves. When a doctor sees him, tell them to call for a psych eval. Could be suicidal." 

"Say a prayer." Laura said, before grabbing her stethoscope and going into the room. 

"Hello--" Laura said, looking down at the chart, and then snapped her head up.

"Shit." The man groaned. 

"You fell out of a window?" She said, rushing to the bedside. "You fell out of a fucking window, Clint?" 

Clint sighed, and leaned his head against the pillow. "Well, yes and no." 

"What does that mean?" She said, shining a flashlight in his eyes. 

"Well, I mean, I did fall. I very much did fall. And landed on top of a car. But--" Clint trailed off. 

Laura stared at him. "But what." 

"Laura--" 

"But. What. Clint." Laura crossed her arms.

"I jumped." Clint admitted. 

"You did  _what?"_

"I jumped. Out the window." Clint said, looking at his hands. They were covered in cuts. 

"Clint." Laura stared at him. "Why the hell did you jump out of a window?" 

Clint avoided her gaze. "Uh. For my, uh, job?" 

Laura rolled her eyes. "Now I don't believe that. What job asks any sane man to jump out of a window?" 

"I'm a sniper. For a government agency called Shield. Today, my job got compromised, and in order to not get blown to bits by a shotgun, grenade, or both, I jumped out a window. Now I'm fine, seriously, so just patch me up so I can go home. Lucky needs to be walked." Clint said. 

Laura stared at him. 

He looked at her. "For what it's worth, I didn't know you worked at this hospital. I would have gone to another if I had known." 

Laura stared more.

\--

She got someone to cover her shift, and she drove Clint back to his apartment. Luckily, the cuts were very shallow, nothing needed stitches. The only concern, Doctor Harrell said, was the concussion, and that he should probably have someone stay with him for a few days to make sure it didn't get worse. Or that Clint's brain didn't swell and Clint didn't die in his sleep. Laura supposed she was tasked to that job. 

The past few days had mostly been Clint sleeping, or watching Netflix, or looking at the phone, waiting for it to ring. Laura hadn't left but to get some clothes and her toothbrush. 

On the third day of Clint's moping, or healing, whichever was more accurate that day, Laura handed him a coffee, and sat down next to him. "Why are you waiting for the phone to ring?" She asked him. 

"Nunya." Clint said, gruffly, and took the coffee. He desperately needed to shave. 

"Clint, I've been actively taking care of you for three days, and losing money because I'm not working. In addition to this, my mother thinks it's a bad idea for me to date a man that is not only older than me, but a veteran of war, who is all messed up, and has scars, and talks like he's a country music star. I just..." Laura took a deep breath. "If this is going to be a thing, Clint, then I deserve to know. Everything." 

Clint rubbed the back of his neck. "Christ, Laura. We've only been dating for a month." 

"And I feel like this is going to be a thing." She pressed on. "But if you don't feel the same way, then I'll... then I'll finish making sure you're okay here, and I'll go." 

Clint sighed. "I'm waiting for a call from my boss. I was supposed to be assigned to a mission overseas with my friend Nat, but she hasn't come back from her last mission yet. Nat, see, she's... I met her when she was young. We know everything about each other. And I want to tell her about you, but I'm worried..." He trailed off. 

Laura took a sip of her own coffee, and waited. She had quickly learned that if she wanted information from Clint, that she should be patient. She could be patient. 

"I'm worried that if I tell her about you, then you'll be in danger. I trust Natasha, I trust her with my life. But her secrets have secrets, and her friends are enemies that have worse, scarier enemies. And I'm worried that if I tell her about you, if I tell anyone about you, that you'll be at risk. And... I do think this is something, Laura. And I don't want you to be at risk. So I'm waiting for Natasha to call, so I can lie to her, even though she'll probably figure out my lie, and then we're off to Serbia for two weeks to take out an ambassador who is secretly selling nuclear arms to North Korea." 

Laura thought about this. Then she put down her coffee, slid into Clint's lap, and kissed him, deeply. 

"Oh, shit." He mumbled, spilling the coffee all over the floor as he brought his arms around her. 

She rocked against his lap. 

"Oh,  _shit._ "

\--

Early the next morning, long before Clint woke up, Laura got up, wrapped herself in one of his tee-shirts, and put on a pot of coffee. Then, she drifted towards the phone that was hanging on the wall. There was a list of emergency contacts. A vet, poison control, and two numbers, one labelled  _grl frm bar_ and the other  _n_. She picked up the phone and dialed N. 

"Hello?" The woman, Natasha?, had a raspy voice, and picked up after the first ring. "Clint, I told you to stop acting like a mother hen. The mission is go--" She broke off. "You're not Clint. I'm hanging up now." 

"Wait!" Laura said, and for some reason, the woman did. "I'm Laura. And I'm dating Clint. And he was really worried about you, and so I called. He has a concussion--"

"From falling out the window." The woman said. "I'm aware. How did you get this number?" 

"It's um. Labelled 'n' on a thing on the wall." Laura said. 

The woman sighed a deep, deep, sigh. "That idiot. I knew he was dating someone. Well, Laura, I look forward to meeting you when I get back to town. Tell Clint that Serbia is no longer necessary." Then she hung up. 

Laura went back to bed. 

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has commented and given kudos so far. It's in the middle of finals, but I promise to keep updating. Please share it with people!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There once was a man named Clint  
> Whom with a new girl he would sprint  
> Into a relationship, but she didn't mind  
> Because she would never be so unkind  
> Though they were both without a blueprint.

Clint was juggling apples. Laura didn't know he had this ability, but Clint said he could juggle, and was now juggling apples in his kitchen. He claimed his concussion was gone, and Laura hadn't believed him, so Clint was juggling to prove it. 

Clint dropped one of the apples. Laura snorted. 

"Stop that. I told you, my concussion is gone." Clint said, bending down to pick up one of the apples and groaning. 

Laura leaned over from where she was sitting at the kitchen counter to look at him. "What's up?" 

"Concussion not gone. Feeling sick." 

Laura laughed and tied her hair back with a hair tie. "I told you so. You don't believe the professionally trained nurse who rocked your world last night." 

Clint put the apples back in the bowl on the counter. "Who told you that you rocked my world?" He walked towards her and set his hands on her waist. 

"I just assumed, since we've had sex every night since Tuesday." Laura said, kissing him. "Say I rocked your world." 

He laughed. "Yes ma'am." 

There was a knock at the door. 

"Shit. I'll get it," Clint said, stooping to grab some stray jeans from the floor. Laura wondered where the shirt was, and then realized she was wearing it. Clint saw, and smirked. "You know, we should get out of the apartment today. I haven't been out of this rat's nest since you brought me here. We should go see a movie or somethin--" Clint, who had been walking backwards over the door, tripped over a shoe. "Shit. You didn't see that." 

"Sure." Laura said. 

Clint opened the door. "You didn't!" 

"No, she really did." A woman in red hair said. 

Clint whipped around towards the door. "Nat! You're back!" 

"Yes, I am. Can I speak to you? In the hallway?" The woman, the same voice as the phone call from Wednesday, said. God, she was beautiful. 

"Sure-- sure thing." Clint said, going out into the hallway. The door slammed shut. 

Laura, having four siblings and two parents, did the only reasonable thing in this situation. She scrambled from her place on the bar stool and ran towards the door, listening in at the key hole. It was muffled, but still something. 

"----mmfmm can't just  _call----"_

_"mmmfmm---_ didn't fmmmm---"

"on the---mffff----wall-ffff----" 

The conversation stopped. Laura got up immediately, and went over to the fridge. She hummed nervously, and pretended to look for some juice. The door re-opened. 

"Somebody thinks she can be a spy, and listen at the door-- and thinks she can go unnoticed?" The woman and Clint entered. 

"Natasha." He said, sternly. 

She shrugged, and picked up a pair of underpants. "What? I think it's cute." She threw the underpants at Clint. She walked over to Laura. 

Laura let the refrigerator door fall shut. 

Natasha smiled and stuck out her hand. "Hello, Laura." 

Laura smiled back at her. "Hi uh," 

"Natasha." She formally introduced herself. "Don't worry, Clint's told me nothing about you, so I had to go and do it on my own. You're from a college town in Georgia, but your family is from Maryland. Your father is a professor, your mother a nurse. You got your degree from said college in college town-- Athens is lovely, I've been before-- and you're a nurse at Presbyterian. It's all very sweet and commendable. You seem like a lovely girl." 

Laura blinked. 

Clint groaned. "However?" 

"However!" Natasha said, still with a smile on her face. "However! That does not give you the right to call people on the phone at any given hour of the day! I don't know what Clint has told you about what it is we do--" 

"I haven't told her  _anything,_ Nat!" Clint rubbed his face. 

"Well--" Laura started--

"You've told her things? Clint!" Natasha seemed exasperated. Clint seemed exasperated. 

"I have been concussed--" 

"He's still concussed." Laura interjected. 

"Laura! I have been concussed, and whatever I may or may not have told her is entirely--  _entirely--_ the concussions fault." Clint said. 

Natasha rolled her eyes at Clint. "You've been dating for a month, and you probably couldn't keep your mouth shut. Don't give me that concussion bullshit. You're well trained in the art of  _keeping your damn mouth shut._ Except when you like someone, of course." 

"I don't tell anyone anything." Clint walked over to the couch and flopped down on it. "Natasha, you exhaust me." 

"If you dating me is a matter of, um, national security," Laura said gently, "Then we can stop dating. Seriously. I'm not worth any, uh, security breaches." 

Natasha looked at Laura. "You two have had sex more than once, right?" 

"Natasha!" Clint exclaimed. 

"Yes?" Laura replied. 

"Then, to Clint, you're worth a thousand security breaches." And with that, Natasha put her hand on Laura's shoulder, kissed the top of Clint's head, and left. 

\---

Immediately after Natasha left, Clint grabbed Laura's arm, and dragged her into the closet in his bedroom. 

"What do you know about what I do? I wasn't kidding when I said I wasn't held responsible for what I blabbed while concussed." Clint said. He sounded urgent. 

"Um. Why are we in your closet?" Laura asked, blinking so her eyes adjusted to the dark. 

"Laura, come on. The only reason why I'm trying to tell you this, trying to tell you anything, is so we can  _maybe_ have a future together. Cut a guy a little slack. I'm trying to open up to you here. Tell me what you know." 

Laura opened her mouth, then closed it. "Uh, you work for an government agency called Shield. You are a sniper. You see a lot of death." She paused. "You were once in the army?" 

Clint sighed. "I told you the name? Shit, well, okay. Uh. Yes, all that, all that is correct. I am a sniper, and Natasha-- she's a spy. Sometimes I spy, too, but probably not so much anymore since I can't keep my goddamn mouth shut when I'm concussed, apparently. SHIELD operates outside of the government, it's more secret than the CIA. We take care of threats that have to deal with homeland security." 

"The arms dealer to North Korea from Serbia." Laura said. 

"Yeah-- wait, shit, I told you that too?" Clint rubbed his face. "Shit. Natasha is going to kill me. Um, what else. Oh-- yeah-- I kill people. I kill a lot of people. The people I don't kill, I seriously harm them. Natasha-- she kills even more people than I do, and in nastier, more painful ways. We're kind of a team. She's my best friend, and just so you don't have to find out from her, yes, I slept with her like, one time, but it's strictly platonic now. I couldn't-- she didn't-- whatever." 

"Clint, I don't want to hear this?" 

"Wait! Just-- let me finish." Clint took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is, I won't kill you, or harm you. I'm-- I'm some corn-fed hick from Iowa who joined up when he was eighteen and got taken into this program because I was good with a gun and a damn bow and arrow. But I like you, Laura, and I may not be ready to tell you that I love you or anything, cause I sure as hell know you're not ready to say that you love me, but damn, if we could-- I don't know, date each other. And have sex. A lot of sex. That'd just--" He sighed. "That'd make my life. Now... don't freak out." 

"I'm not." She said simply. 

Clint reached for something behind her, and the wall of the closet gave out, showing an expanded area, full of guns and grenades and a huge bow. "And this?"

Laura looked on in awe. 

"This is why I think we should stay at your place from now on." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote that limerick. It's cute.


	4. Chapter 4

"Yeah, I'm gonna have the mango chicken breast? With the wild rice?" Laura said, handing her menu back to the waiter. Clint had already ordered some sort of duck dish, and had recommended the duck, but Laura was just craving mango. She took a sip of her wine. "So," she said, as the waiter left. "What's with the fancy restaurant?"

Clint stilled from where he was eating his fancy bread. "It's our anniversary?" 

Laura blinked. "Really?" 

He nodded. "Yeah, uh, we've been dating for six months. I thought that was reason to celebrate." 

Laura quickly took another sip of her wine. "No! Of course it's reason to celebrate! I just--" 

"Forgot." Clint finished. "It's okay." 

"No, Clint, it's not, I'm sorry." Laura reached out to hold his hand. She-- she hadn't realized that they were a six-month-anniversary type of couple. "It's just-- with that six car pile-up and you being away for work--" 

"You didn't know, it's okay." Clint smiled. "Why don't we just enjoy our evening?" 

"Okay." 

\---

Laura took her heels off. "The mango was delicious. Absolutely delicious. And just what I was in the mood for." 

"Yeah." Clint untied his tie before taking off his watch. 

"Okay-- what is wrong with you? I apologized for forgetting it was our six months at least a thousand times tonight, and you've been short with me every single time." Laura said, turning to Clint. "What the hell is your problem? I didn't know we were the type of couple that celebrated six months. One year, sure, but not six months." 

"Laura, I said it's nothing. Drop it." Clint said shortly. Again. 

"Well, obviously it's not nothing, Clint." 

"Laura!" Clint shouted, turning towards her. "Look-- okay, look. I-- I wore a tie tonight, and you wore a fancy dress that made your tits look amazing, and I took you to a restaurant that cost a hell of a lot of money, okay? It didn't-- it doesn't matter that you forgot it was our six months-- I mean-- I was just going to--" 

Clint took a deep, aggravated sounding breath. "I was going to-- you know I love you, right?" 

Laura blinked. "Right." They had said this to each other before, multiple times actually. He had said it the first time before leaving for a mission that took him away to a rain forest (he couldn't say which one) for three weeks. "And I love you too. You know that, Clint." 

He took another deep breath. "I-- I was going to ask you to marry me." 

Laura blinked. "What." 

Clint fished around in his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet box. "I was going to ask you to marry me, Laura." 

Laura was quiet, and stared at the ring box in his hand. His rough calloused hand that she loved so much. 

"And-- and you aren't saying anything." Clint said, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't holding the ring box.

"No, I'm-- I'm just kind of--" Laura paused and took a deep breath. "We've only been dating for six months." 

"So?" Clint said. "I love you, you love me, we live together, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I don't see why we shouldn't get married." 

"My parents dated for six years, Clint, six years before they got engaged. I-- I was always told--"

"Fuck what you were told." 

"Clint." Laura said sharply. "We hardly know anything about each other-- about the future--" 

Clint set the ring box down on the bedside table. "We've talked, how much more do you need to know? We talked-- farmhouse upstate, a litter of kids, room for Lucky to run around? We've talked, I've been saving--" 

Laura rubbed her face. "Yeah, we've talked, and I want all that, Clint, I really do, but not for another couple of years--"

"Well, why not now?" He said, crossing his arms. 

Laura rubbed her face. "Clint, I don't want to do this. Not tonight. We had a nice dinner--" 

"It wasn't nice, Laura. It was awkward, and my duck was dry. Why not tonight?" Clint said. 

"Because you're upset, and I'm upset, and I don't want to get engaged while upset." 

"You've only been upset since I brought this up. And now you're avoiding my question. Christ, Laura--" 

Laura sighed. "I don't want to get married in case you die. Okay? You-- you have a very dangerous job, and you might die. You say you won't, and I know you say you're careful and well trained, but I know you might die, or go missing for months on end. I know it's a very real possibility and it might happen and I'm worried about you. So-- I just--" 

Clint stared at her. 

"I don't want to become a widow at twenty-five." 

Clint stared at her more. 

Laura attempted to continue, feeling tears began to prick in the corner of her eyes. "And-- and it's foolish to ask you to quit your job, because I know you love it, I feel it in the way you move when you get ready for work. I would dump you in a second if you asked me to stop being a nurse. I'm just not ready to become a widow, if that happens. And-- and what if, what if we have kids, and some drug lord or dictator or assassin that you've been tasked to kill follows you home? To where I live? To where-- to where our kids live? You may not have thought about this kind of stuff, but I have, Clint." She took a deep breath. "I have." 

Clint began to re-button his shirt. 

Laura blinked. "Clint, what are you doing?" 

He grabbed his jacket. 

"Clint-- wait, stop, what are you doing?" The tears began to fall. 

Clint walked out the door of the bedroom, and out the door of the apartment. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tell Laura I Love Her is a song by Ray Peterson from 1960. I'm gonna keep posting more!


End file.
